Syracuse-Villanova Preview

Villanova made a season-high 11 3-pointers to beat Syracuse last month, but four of those came from Corey Stokes.

The guard will likely miss his fourth straight game Monday night when the 15th-ranked Wildcats face the No. 17 Orange and their trio of Philadelphia natives at the Wells Fargo Center.

Villanova (21-6, 9-5 Big East) won for the fourth time in five matchups with Syracuse (22-6, 9-6) on Jan. 22, making 11 of 24 3-pointers in an 83-72 win at the Carrier Dome. Stokes, fourth in the Big East at 41.5 percent from beyond the arc, made four of 11.

The Wildcats' second-leading scorer at 14.6 points per game, Stokes remains out due to a turf toe injury on his left foot. Villanova has shot 32.6 percent on 3-pointers in the last three games without him.

"Corey Stokes is always a guy that you know is just going to stretch the defense," coach Jay Wright said. "Even if he's not making shots, they're going to guard him no matter how far out he is, and it creates space for everybody. Without him, anybody else on our team, they'll just say, 'Go ahead, let those guys beat us.'"

Villanova survived for a 77-75 overtime victory at last-place DePaul on Saturday. Corey Fisher was the only Wildcat to make a 3-pointer, going 5 of 8 and scoring a career-high 34 points.

Fisher's biggest shot was his tying 3 with six seconds left in regulation.

"I was just trying to make plays on defense," Fisher said. "We weren't worried too much about offense. We were just trying to play hard."

The close call against a lesser opponent drew the attention of Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who could relate after his team beat Rutgers 84-80 in overtime Saturday.

"I watched DePaul earlier today, they had a three-point lead over Villanova and they could've won the game," Boeheim said. "It's just the way it is. Every game is like that."

Syracuse's Rick Jackson had 18 points and 12 boards for his conference-best 17th double-double Saturday. Jackson leads the Big East with 11.2 rebounds per game.

The senior forward is one of three players from Philadelphia on the Orange. Starting guard Scoop Jardine and freshman reserve Dion Waiters are the others.

This trip home may have more meaning for Jardine, who logged three minutes at Villanova as a freshman three seasons ago and had redshirted in 2008-09 when the Orange last visited Philadelphia.

Syracuse's C.J. Fair has blossomed since he scored a season-low one point in last month's loss to the Wildcats. The freshman forward has averaged 12.0 points and 62.5 percent shooting over his last four games.

Fair has logged 37 minutes in each of the last two contests, and had 17 points and eight rebounds Saturday.

"I'm happy so far with how I've been playing now," Fair said. "I've gotten opportunities to get out there and I'm just improving. My coach says I should be out there, he's sticking with me."